Ahead of the first race of the 2014 Formula One season, Clayton Green, Manager
of the Human Performance Programme at McLaren, reveals how top drivers stay
race-fit

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Formula One drivers get to sit on their backsides at work. Today’s racing drivers are highly-conditioned athletes whose bodies are carefully primed for the unique physical stresses of their sport. Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and co. manoeuvre 691kg cars at top speeds of 300kph, endure forces of 5g, burn 1,400 calories and lose up to 3kg of body weight in sweat during a race. What's more, they do it 19 times over an eight month period.

“Fitness and weight are extremely important for F1 drivers,” explains Clayton Green, Manager of the Human Performance Programme at McLaren. Green, who previously worked as Lewis Hamilton’s personal trainer, now supports the conditioning of the 2014 race team, helping to monitor the fitness of drivers Jenson Button, 34, and Kevin Magnussen, 21.

“A lot of the importance of weight is to do with the environment in which the drivers are competing. The space in the cars is very small: the cars aren’t designed for the comfort of the driver, they are designed to go as fast as possible, so we have to squeeze the driver into the space that is allowed for them. They resemble a jockey in terms of body shape and appearance.”

Clayton Green: 'We want everything to be as light as possible'

Despite being 6ft tall, Button weighs just 70kg, while the 5ft 9ins Magnussen is a slim 68kg. Sculpting a body as light as carbon-fibre aids performance on the circuit. “The minimum weight limit of the car this year is 691kg. With the changes in technology, teams are struggling to get the cars down to the minimum limit - but they want to be as close to it as possible. Any extra weight equates to time per lap and they don’t want to give anything away to competitors. So we want everything as light as possible - including the driver.”

The slim physiques of Button and Magnussen are founded on a sensible diet. “Nutrition is really about not consuming excessive carbs, so we use low glycaemic index foods (e.g. vegetables, nuts, sweet potatoes) during the day and higher glycaemic foods (e.g. rice) to recover from activity. The drivers have a relatively high-protein diet, plus lots of fruit and veg.”

McLaren's new driver Kevin Magnussen

On a race weekend Button typically eats an omelette with mushrooms, peppers and cheese for breakfast, accompanied by carrot juice, tea, and yoghurt with nuts and berries. Lunch is salmon with vegetables, followed by steak and vegetables for dinner. He occasionally treats himself to some sticky toffee pudding. “We want drivers to stay below 10pc body fat but if they can get to 8pc that is really good,” reveals Green.

These carefully planned diets are only part of the McLaren fitness equation. Drivers must also perform regular endurance training such as running, cycling, swimming or cross-country skiing to help shed the pounds and build cardiovascular fitness. Button’s extensive training has turned him into a keen triathlete. “They have to have a very good cardiovascular base because when they are in the car their heart rates can easily be running at an average of 80pc of their maximum heart rate for 90 minutes to two hours,” explains Green.

Jenson Button prepares to compete in the London Triathlon

Button and Magnussen will undergo final weight manipulation before the start of a race. “All through the weekend, right up until qualifying, we want them to stay as light as possible so they qualify on what their minimum weight will be. But after that they will have larger meals on the evening after qualifying and on the morning preceding the race. We want them to put on a bit of extra weight as they might lose two kilos during the race. Effectively we are offsetting that weight loss so they still end up at their expected weight at the end of a race. If we dropped below that minimum weight they could potentially get disqualified.”

A slim frame is of little use in Formula One unless it is paired with a robust, strong body. The development and maintenance of lean muscle is vital in helping a driver endure the brutal punishment of a race. “Drivers have to be strong enough to cope with the g-forces that they will experience,” explains Green. “The braking capabilities of the car mean that the drivers can experience a longitudinal g-force up to 5g on a regular basis under heavy braking. Given that the weight of the head is about 7-8kg once you include the helmet, if you are braking at 5g you have a weight of up to 40kg effectively trying to rip your head off your shoulders whenever you brake.” To galvanise their bodies, McLaren drivers perform squats, pull-ups, shoulder presses and core drills such as V-sits. “It’s all about building strength endurance in the shoulders, neck, legs and core,” notes Green.

As you’d expect from a Formula One giant, McLaren employ an interesting mix of innovation, sports science and gadgetry in their training. “We are very fortunate because we have our own state-of-the-art fitness and wellbeing centre. For example, Technogym made us a special F1 training machine which helps recreate the g-force on the neck and shoulders.” Hydration strategies are also highly scientific. “We know drivers will lose a lot of fluid during a race and there is a very limited amount of fluid in the car – perhaps only a litre of drink available to them. So we have worked on a drink with the Human Performance Lab at GlaxoSmithKline which pre-hydrates the driver in a very specific way so when they load up on fluid (before a race) they will retain it better.”

However, McLaren’s eternal quest for innovation is balanced by much more practical considerations which take into account the drivers’ busy travel and race schedules. Drivers take minerals and vitamins to offset the draining effects of travelling through different time zones and adapt their fitness sessions according to their current environment – for example, by swimming when they’re stuck in a hotel. “It is a definite effort to maintain fitness levels during the season,” says Green. “It is a difficult juggling act because in an F1 season testing starts in February and the races end in December so we only have a couple of months in the off-season and a month in the summer (for full-time training). Normally we do most of the volume training in the off-season. During the race season, when drivers have travelling and marketing commitments, we cut down on time and focus on more high-intensity sessions. There is normally a slight drop-off in fitness throughout the year.”

What amounts to a fluctuation in training for a Formula One driver would still humble most people: even during race season Button trains for 45 hours a month. “The drivers are extremely fit,” says Green. “We do V02 max tests (which assesses aerobic fitness by measuring maximum oxygen consumption) on the drivers and we would expect any F1 driver to have a score in excess of 60ml/kg/min – maybe even up to 70.” In comparison, the average VO2 max score for a sedentary male is 35ml/kg/min – half that of Button and Magnussen. “That is quite a high level for somebody who is supposed to be sitting down the whole time.”